WET News

4 WET NEWS NOVEMBER 2014 News+ Adoption of piecemeal local planning for SuDS could be fatal • UK drainage and utilities materials distributor calls for holistic approach to SuDS, rather than site-specific, in order for planning to work properly. C hanging the course of the implementation of much- needed SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) from a legislation-based approach to piecemeal local planning could be fatal, particularly as we approach the flood season, according to Keyline, one of the largest UK dis- tributors of civils, drainage and utilities materials. Gareth Twohey, national sec- tor manager for utilities at Key- line, said: "With the momentum around responsibility for mandat- ing SuDS in new developments having moved to local planning departments, bypassing the Flood and Water Management Act, there is now the clear potential for the emergence of a piecemeal approach." He continued: "The wider sur- face-water retention and run-off issues affecting a region could be sidelined in favour of local concerns, even resulting in SuDS installations being NEED TO KNOW Defra launched a consultation document in September outlining the delivery of SuDS through changes to the current planning regime in England The consultation was in response to an earlier consultation, where respondents identified a number of concerns that they wanted government to consider further Concerns included the impact on development of approving SuDS under a separate consenting regime from that to approve planning applications, and the fact that these regimes were to have been run by two different parts of local government, rather than just the one counter-productive." In September Defra announced a consultation across industry calling for views on an "alternative approach to the one envisaged in the Flood and Water Management Act 2010", stating: "The Government has listened, and in response now wishes to consult on delivering sustainable drainage systems through changes to the current planning regime." The consultation states that the method would use the National Planning Policy Frame- work. This means the change will only cover developments of ten houses or more, and decision- making will rest with local plan- ning departments. The new arrangements are due to come into force next spring. Twohey said: "By nature, local planning looks at local needs when it comes to new develop- ment, and not at the wider con- text. SuDS has to be holistic rather GOOD MONTH BAD MONTH Balfour Beatty appoints former employee Leo Quinn as its new CEO after five months of searching. Happy 120th anniversary to UU's Thirlmere Aque- duct at Manchester. It took 3,000 men and eight years to build. Balfour Beatty issues a £75M profit warning in its Construction Services UK activities. Severn Trent Water to axe 500 management / support jobs as it merges its water and wastewater operations businesses. than site-specific to work prop- erly, looking at the crucial ramifi- cations downstream of new installations. Moving the problem onto someone else's patch could result in a nightmare scenario, when more joined-up thinking might have mitigated this risk." The new consultation also leaves the future role of SuDS Approval Boards (SABs), which were being set up locally as required by the Flood Act 2010, mired in confusion. According to Twohey, maintenance require- ments and responsibilities also still require clarification: "Who owns the new asset, and should therefore maintain it? The issue of adoption is crucial, but it's purely down to how the local authority enforces it, and could leave the taxpayer with huge maintenance costs. "The bottom line is nobody is making local planners think holistically, and the proof will be in the pudding." CONTRACT WINS • CH2M Hill is to provide technical advisory and site supervision of construction services in support of the Scottish Water's £100M Shield- hall Strategic Tunnel project in central Scotland. • Costain has the contract for United Utilities' (UU) £34M tunneling project to help improve sewer overflows in Manchester. The 1.8km-long tunnels are part of UU's UID (unsatisfactory intermittent discharge) scheme to clean up the long-troubled Salteye Brook in Salford. • Amey has retained its water metering deal with UU. The company will continue to install, maintain and repair water meters across the North-west for the next five and a half years. The £70M contract will see Amey teams manage around 195,000 metering jobs annually. • Anglian Water, has renewed its tyre service contract with ATS Euromaster for the thirteenth consecutive year, and will see the business maintaining its Michelin tyre policy for its car and van fleet. • Water company takes part in Eu-funded research project to help understand the optimum levels of technology that will be needed. Thames Water trials leakage monitoring in Reading T hames Water is installing the cutting-edge Syrinix Trunkminder leak moni- toring technology on the main water pipe serving central Reading as part of an £8M SmartWater4Europe initiative. The development is part of the EU-funded research project. The town relies heavily on the old 20" cast iron pipe, with any big cracks potentially caus- ing major flooding and knock- ing out water supplies to homes and businesses. Thames Water innovation programme manager Nic Clay- Michael said the Trunkminder – being used by the company for the first time outside Lon- don and Oxford – will consider- ably reduce the risk of a damag- ing big burst, and not cost customers a penny. "We are proud to be involved in this exciting project, and it's great we are able to share the benefits at no extra cost to our customers," he said. "Syrinix Trunkminder sits on the old pipe and actually listens to the water powering through the network. It gives us advanced warning if something changes, if something is not right. "This could be a very minor leak, just three or four drips a minute, or creak, but the tech- nology allows us to act way before any catastrophic failure and, most importantly, cus- tomer impact." SmartWater4Europe aims to speed up innovations in key areas. The need to rehabilitate and monitor water networks over the next ten to 30 years has been identified as a prior- ity, sparking the considerable investment in four towns: Reading, Lille (France), Leeu- warden (the Netherlands), and a to-be-confirmed location in Spain. The trial results will help understand the optimum levels of technology needed to deliver a better level of customer ser- vice in other areas in the Thames Water region and across Europe. REALITY CHECK • Implementation of Schedule 3 of the SuDS legislation should have been implemented last month • Defra said the government remains committed to implementing SuDS "at the earliest available opportunity" • The EIC said putting local authority planning departments at the centre of SuDS legislation may mean inconsistent standards are applied • Planners will have to consider the SuDS issue exclusively in terms of flooding • The independent Pitt Review into the causes of the 2007 floods concluded SuDS were an effective way to reduce the risk of flash- flooding The new SuDS consultation leaves the future role of SuDS Approval Boards (SABs), which were being set up locally as required by the Flood Act 2010, mired in confusion, says Keyline SOLIDS PUMPING… ...WHY PLAY A DICEY GAME? Dealing with blocked pumps in your sewage streams can hardly be described as 'fun', but it does happen. 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